THE GLOSSY-IBIS 



[ORDER: Ciconiiformes. SUBORDER: Ciconice. FAMILY: Ibididce. 



SUBFAMILY: Ibidince] 



PRELIMINAKY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. 0. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



GLOSSY-IBIS [Egdtheits falcinellus (Linnaeus); Plegadis falcinellus 

 (Linnaeus). Black curlew (Norfolk). French, ibis falcinelle ; German, 

 brauner Sichler ; Italian, mignattaio]. 



1. Description. The glossy-ibis may at all times be distinguished by the 

 long decurved beak, long hind-toe, and more or less extensive metallic gloss of 

 the plumage. There is a seasonal change of coloration. (PL 167.) Length 22 in. 

 [558 mm.]. The male in his breeding dress is of a dark reddish chesnut, 

 burnished on the crown with dark metallic green, on the scapulars and inter- 

 scapulars and wing-coverts with green and purple. The beak is of dark brownish 

 olive, and the iris is brown. The legs and feet are greenish grey. The female 

 is slightly smaller, duller, and has a shorter beak. In the winter dress the 

 reddish brown is more or less completely replaced by earthy brown, but the metallic 

 areas remain unchanged. The juvenile dress resembles that of the adult winter 

 dress, but the metallic areas are of an oil-green colour, and the head and throat 

 are more or less striated with white. The downy nestling is blackish grey, with a 

 white band on the crown, [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. The breeding range of this species in Europe is chiefly 

 confined to the basins of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, where it is very local. 1 

 It breeds in the marismas of the Guadalquivir in S. Spain, but not in large numbers, 

 and formerly nested in the Camargue, though there seems to be no recent record of 

 its breeding there. It has not been proved to breed in Italy, though probably a 



1 None were noted there in 1911 by Mr. W. Farren. 

 VOL. IV. 2 S 



